Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: Panzerman
Or be a deadbeat and get a Earned Income Tax Credit.
My sister-in-law consistently gets back three times what she pays in tax every year.
I don't think alot of people realize the poor, they not only don't pay taxes, they take from the kitty.
So-she shouldn't take the credit? How about people on Medicaid-are they "deadbeats" to? How about people getting more in social security benefits than they have ever paid in? How have they "earned" their social security-if they got back what they paid in 15 years in to their retirement?
You need to be careful when you throw around that word.
Social Security and Medicare are paid into while you work, so those wouldn't apply. (I know you said Medicaid....)
And if you get more back, that isn't wrong since, if you kept the money and even conservatively invested it in an Index Fund, you would have more than when you started. Every dollar you put in would double in about 7 years give or take. So over say 50 years of "contributions" that first dollar would be 128. I.E. after 7 = $2, after 14 years = $4, after 21 years = 8, after 28 years = 16, after 35 years = 32 after 42 years, = $64 and after 49 years, that first dollar is now $128.
So it's not unreasonable, nor unfair to expect to get more than you paid in, since you expect that the money would be invested to earn even a modest rate of return.
Even if it earns a lower rate and you get 1/2 of that, that is still $64 for that first dollar in.
So I don't begrudge anyone who is forced to "contribute" to Social Security for getting more out than they put in. If Uncle Sam forces them to pay 6.2% of their income and takes a like amount from their employer, they should be very well compensated for losing the freedom to choose how that money is "invested" on their behalf.